Writer's Block Ch. 01

"You blow me away." He told her, basking in his own afterglow.

A smile filled her face but she was too involved enjoying her snow day to reply. He looked over her body while she was out building snowmen. He couldn't believe how lucky they had both been over the last few days. Her to be alive and he to be gifted by the gods with this angel.

There were other thoughts in his mind though, like how to get back to the cabin. They could charter a chopper but that was going to cost. It wasn't an issue. He wasn't short of money but it was a cost he would rather not have to foot. He kissed Maria's cheek and shuffled off the bed, starting to get dressed. "Where are you going?" She asked.

"If we're going back to the cabin we'll need a way to get there. You need to make some phone calls. I'll be back in a little while. If you need room service don't worry about the cost." He kissed the air and left.

She lay on the bed naked apart from the cumbersome cast. By the time it came off they'd be leaving the cabin to return home to whichever of their lives made more sense, his life as a writer, or hers as an ad exec. She had no love for her job. It was a way to make money and have things but her perspective had flipped. She'd seen the other side of the coin. If she lived with Rance in Marchant Falls, the paradise of the USA for six months and the other six months in the cabin, her job would be useless. She could get a small town job while they were home and help out with the hunt while Rance wrote in the cabin.

Her mind was made up. Now she just had to convince Rance.

************

"These are the coordinates. There's an area to land 300 metres west of the cabin's co-ords. Ideally tomorrow or the next day would be best as long as the weather holds."

"That's a round trip of 155 miles. That's going to be $2,500."

He knew it was going to hurt but it was all for Maria, "That's fine." Rance paid by credit card. "What's the weather forecast?"

"Good and clear tomorrow but closing the day after."

"What time tomorrow?"

"11am good for you?"

"Perfect! See you at 10."

The door to the room opened. Stunned, Maria pulled the covers over her. She had fallen asleep still burning in her afterglow. She had no idea who had come in but she was still naked. "Maria, You ok?"

She peeked out from behind the duvet. "I thought it might have been maid service." She laughed. "Where did you get to?"

A large sigh left Rance's lungs. "We have a chopper booked for 11 tomorrow morning. You have a serious decision to make. This isn't like making the decision up there. Here you can make a real decision. You have options down here. You can get a flight home and live your life. You could make a new life anywhere, or you can come back to the cabin and be bored with me."

"Bored with you, every time!"

"Ok. We need to pack your new kit ready for leaving. Then food!"

They spent 30 minutes packing. Not just packing loosely like for a holiday, but making everything as small as possible. The chopper wasn't very big and had to seat pilot, co-pilot and the two of them as well as her new kit.

Maria dressed to go to dinner and although she thought Rance was particularly attractive his clothes were a mess. He hadn't exactly dressed for dining out. "You need some new duds, dude!" She commented. "You can't go anywhere in that old coat. As warm and lifesaving as it may be, we'll get thrown out of any decent place if you wear it."

"I was thinking of upgrading."

She made him take it off and leave it behind. He was cold but that would be short lived. There were a few great places to buy new clothes in town so they went to the biggest and found Rab clothing. "This stuff is worn at the poles. It's some of the best stuff; waterproof, warm and plenty of pockets." The sales girl was really pushing it.

"It's $800, for a jacket!" Rance was showing a side Maria hadn't expected. He was a spend thrift. She found it highly amusing and teased him about it.

"You need to loosen the purse strings a bit. Take a little money from your mattress and buy some decent threads! Anyway this is on me." The sales girl took Maria's card and it was done.

"You shouldn't have. It's too much. My old coat does exactly what I need it to do."

"So now you have a good jacket to wear for best. Let's get you a few bits like shirts and pants. Then I'll go to dinner with you."

Reluctantly he agreed. They spent an hour finding him new clothes and having some fun at each other's expense. Rance got her for canoeing rapids in winter, and she got him for being a tight ass.

Back at the hotel they quickly changed and left. He had new hiking pants, T-shirt and $800 jacket while she wore new outdoor boots cargo pants sweater and jacket. They weren't dressed for royalty but they were clean and tidy.

They sat for dinner in a nice little place where everyone else was casually dressed so they didn't stand out. Maria needed to know how the plan was going to work. "We're going to be up at the cabin for another six weeks, maybe two months. After that what will we do?"

"I hadn't thought that far ahead. I usually go day to day. Things are unpredictable and making long term plans out in the wilderness rarely works out."

"I know this is all very new but I need some kind of stability. I need to know, after the time up at the cabin, are we going back to Burlington, or am I coming with you to Marchant Falls?"

"That's a decision only you can make. Either way I want to be wherever you are. I have to be sure you're not planning any more canoe trips."

She smiled sarcastically and made sharp eyes "I don't have any interest in my job anymore. I could sell my house in Burlington and we could pool our money to get something better or we could downsize and have a decent pot to live on. Why couldn't we live in the cabin all year round? Maybe make it a little more comfortable? Live the perfect life?"

"Now that's an idea. Improving the cabin. Or maybe even have a new cabin built. It would be cheaper than buying property in the city. I could sell my house too."

"I know it's all in the future but just think what we could have. A simple life with money behind us in case we needed it."

They talked at length about how they'd like their lives together to pan out. Maria surprised Rance. "And kids? Would you want kids?"

"Living in the cabin would be no way to bring kids up. It's hard enough doing it alone. Two of us will probably be a struggle but with a child too? That would be almost impossible."

Maria saddened. She'd always wanted at least one child. To hear that Rance wasn't a fan of the idea hurt. Maybe he wasn't the one after all.

They ate their meal in relative silence after that. Rance knew he'd hurt her. He didn't mean to, he was just being logical. The cabin wasn't the place to bring up kids. He knew it first hand, he was brought up there. It's how he knew what he knew. Then the thought of his child carrying on the knowledge that he'd gained from his father arrived in his mind, a little late but still. "I'm sorry, Maria. I shouldn't have closed the idea down like that."

"No! You're right. I nearly died out there. The man I was with did die. It's not a safe place for a child. It was silly to consider it really."

"I'd like a child, but maybe we need to rethink our whole strategy. We don't have to have the cabin in Canada. We could have it in a warmer area. Somewhere just as quiet, peaceful, but not so damned cold. Kentucky and Virginia have some great woodland. Fewer bears too!"

"Would you really consider relocating?"

"Sure, as long as I get to look at your face and write."

The meal was more enjoyable after that exchange. The meat was more succulent, the wine more fruity and the company happier. After the meal they walked along the lake side looking out into the darkness, thinking about the darkness of the cabin. How the stars shine during the clear nights, twinkling like thousands of eyes winking their approval. "I think we should spend these last few weeks at the cabin. Get to know each other properly and at the end of it decide whether you can live with me." The tone of his voice hinting at humour but very logical.

"I already know the answer, but ok, we can test the water."

They'd found each other in extreme circumstances. A one in a billion chance. He didn't have to take the walk that morning. He could have lit his fire and tried to hammer a few pages out, but walk he did. The one in a billion chance that they should come together, as likely as two grains of salt finding each other as they were sprinkled from a cellar onto the food they had just eaten.

They returned to their room fully fed but hungry for each other again. They embraced, kissed, undressed each other and explored as they danced, moving together to the silent music, rhythmically, tenderly. Nothing else mattered when they were coupled; it was just them, two grains of salt in a universe of possibilities.

In the morning Rance woke early and took the chance to enjoy a last shower before their return to Echo springs. He was nervous, his heart pounding at the thought of anything going wrong out there. When he was alone he only had himself to worry about but now he had a partner to look after and she wasn't fighting fit yet.

He let the water wash over his head, down his face and off his chin. He wished it would wash away his anxiety but it stuck like tar to his skin and no amount of his scrubbing was going to remove it.

"Penny for your thoughts?" The sweet voice of his angel came across the bathroom.

"It's fine. I'm just panicking about 'what ifs'. I'm sure everything will be fine."

"Let me help."

The bathroom was hot and misty. Like an early morning in the southern swamps. Maria entered the cubicle and began to wash his back, as she touched him the sticky tar of anxiety he felt began to soften and wash away. She was the cause and the cure of the tension he felt. He was both weaker and stronger with her. She gave him cause for concern but strength to overcome it. As his anxiety left him, washed down the drain by her hand he felt a euphoric relief. His world was perfect, made whole by her touch, hers the same, brought back from the brink of oblivion.

The chopper ride was smooth and easy. Rance pointed out places around the area they would live for the next few weeks. He pointed to the place she had come aground from the river and the distance they had walked to the cabin. It was barely two miles but in her injured state it had taken the best part of three hours to get her there. She couldn't believe that a distance that would have taken 45 minutes uninjured in the city could take so long, realising that this was not a forgiving place.

They landed in the clearing and dropped the two bags in the snow. Rance attached Maria's bag to the rack he'd made for Martin's body and began to drag it for home while Maria struggled with her crutches in the snow. She sent Rance ahead as she didn't want to hold him up. "By the time I get to the cabin you'll have done both trips."

He didn't argue. She was becoming wiser to the area all the time.

In the cabin they unpacked their new items and put them away as best they could. "I'm going to sit outside and enjoy the peace. Why don't you take some time with your pen?" Suggested Maria, giving him a quick kiss.

Sitting at his desk Rance thought about the past week. It was an impossible story. Far stranger than fiction. The mere odds of the entire thing were astronomical. The chances that she would find probably the only guide who hadn't done his homework before taking the trip, the chances she would be thrown from the canoe and survive, the chances he would take his walk at that time, the chances he would hear her shouts, the chances the weather would be fair, and the chances he knew how to keep her alive. It all multiplied to an impossible story and yet here he was, about to write it.

He wrote fiction. It was his imagination that kept him in this line of work. 'Brain cramp' had been plaguing him for days before his discovery of Maria. Now he felt he had a best-selling fiction novel at his fingertips, except it wasn't fiction at all. Pen touched paper scribbling furiously to get the words from his head before they melted back into the bottomless box of nouns, adjectives and verbs.

His laptop was next to him but it needed electricity and by the time the generator was running he might have lost his motivation. Sheet after sheet he filled, only coming to a stop when he realised it had been hours and he hadn't seen Maria.

His heart sank, his stomach knotted, his mind raced. "MARIA?"

He'd never felt so lost and lonely. He had no idea where she'd been all this time. It was starting to get dark thoughts of bears or wolves making his anxiety more tangible. "MARIA?"

The door opened and in walked the angel. "Everything ok?" She asked.

Rance felt faint. The blood almost drained to his feet as he slumped into his seat. "I didn't know where you were. I haven't seen you in hours and I started thinking the worst."

"Honey, I've been in and out of the cabin like a fiddlers elbow. I'm surprised you didn't tell me off for letting the heat out and the cold in. You've had your head buried in paper so I thought I would give you the space you needed."

"I'm so sorry. I've been neglecting you. This can wait."

With a hearty smile Maria said "good I have something to show you."

Walking to the door with wonder in his mind, Rance lifted his head to see a fire with a chair near it. "I made it myself, and I didn't use matches or a lighter. I watched you make friction fire on out first night and I was in awe. I saw you make fire in the cabin with flint and steel and I wanted to try it. I recalled all of your lessons, put it all into practice and this was the result."

Proud was not the word to explain his feeling. He had passed knowledge to the one person who would have died without it and now knew how to keep herself warm in the worst of conditions. A tear came to his eye. Maria saw it. She could see how happy the transfer had made him. "You should teach this stuff to kids and anyone who wants to explore deep nature."

"I'm no teacher!" His words fell unconvincingly from his lips.

"Rubbish! Look what I did with a broken leg, because of you!" Terse words needed to be pushed at him.

"You really think people would want to know this stuff?"

"People would pay good money to learn the stuff you know. Maybe if we do move south you could think about offering this kind of class. Or at least write a book on the subject. The two things you know best coming together as a guide to survival."

His mood changed from withdrawn and uncertain to inspired and confident. "You complete me. Not just figuratively but actually. I would never have thought to put the two things together but you've opened my eyes."

He grabbed her and swung her around. "Thank you." He said over and over.

"You got a pot of coffee on?" Came a voice to the side of the cabin.

"Henry! You ok?" Asked Rance with some concern.

"Just checking on you. Heard the chopper and thought I'd check in."

"I'm...we're fine. Come in I'll get some coffee on. Maria this is Henry. Henry, Maria."

They greeted each other and went in to brew a pot. Henry informed them that he'd shot a bear close by their cabins and warned them to be careful of more. "The good thing about shooting a bear is the fur and the meat."

He opened his pack and presented a mass of meat. "To welcome you home." He said.

Rance was delighted but Maria was less enthusiastic. "Bear meat? You eat that?"

Rance carved a piece and put it in a pan with some of the fat. "You've got to try everything at least once." His words rang out in her mind as she remembered enjoying the squirrel meat.

Once cooked he handed it to her. She picked it out of the pan and smelled it "it smells like fish!" She put her tongue to it. "Tastes kind of metallic like steak." She pulled a piece off with her teeth, chewed it and swallowed it. "Actually not bad, kind of fishy tasting and smelling."

"Must be the last thing he ate before hibernating. He probably woke up hungry and went looking for food. A couple of days sooner and we might not have been taking Martin to the city. He might have ended up fertilising the forest." Rance said with a note of fear. "They're not to be taken lightly. If bears smell food they'll come for it. We need to show you how to shoot."

Scared for the first time since meeting Rance, she said "Ok. I'm ready to learn."

Rance took the .45 out of the drawer and popped five rounds into the clip. "You remember what I showed you the other day?"

Maria nodded, nervous of her first time shooting a pistol.

Rance handed her the clip. She turned away from the men, fed the clip into the grip and pushed until the click, removing the safety, pulling the slide and letting go before returning the safety, all the while finger pointing down the barrel. It took all of three seconds. "She's a natural." Rance told henry.

They left the cabin and looked for a tree with a good backstop behind. He explained the importance of the backstop and the fact that the bullet could travel a long distance without it. "Try shooting that tree." Pointing towards a scrawny dead tree.

She held it as she'd been shown and slowly pulled the trigger. She wasn't expecting such a loud crack. That coupled with the recoil almost set her on her ass. "When you shoot you need to be in a stable position. Put your left foot forward and your right foot behind. I know it's a little more difficult with the cast but you'll be fine."

She tried again knowing what to expect this time. CRACK, CRACK, CRACK.

All three rounds connected with the tree "see. Natural." He said again as Henry's mouth gawped.

"Remind me never to get on the wrong side of her." They all laughed.

"That coffee should be hot now." Rance said as he turned to Maria. "Pull the slide back while pointing away!"

She pulled it and the fifth shell jumped out of the chamber, Rance catching it as it moved upwards. "You know the gun is empty because the slide doesn't return forward. Move the safety down and it'll close"

Her first experience of shooting a gun was exhilarating but she knew the next time she did it; it might be a life or death situation. It caused a mixture of feelings.

They went into the cabin and poured coffee. "It's not like your coffee, Henry, but it'll do the job."

They talked about Maria's lucky escape from the jaws of death at length. Henry wanted to know all the details. She showed him her stitches; he was amazed she hadn't bled out before Rance could get to her. "Fate was certainly smiling that day." Henry said as the other two looked at each other with dreamy smiles.

Henry left after dark. The couple tried to talk him into staying on the camp mattress but he wasn't happy to cramp their style. He took an oil lamp to light his way. The weather was clear and the moon was out so there was plenty of ambient light. "I'll come and check on you in the morning." Rance called to Henry as he walked away.

The next week was like a honeymoon for Rance and Maria. Spending a lot of time together and getting little done. Henry's gift of bear meat had given them the opportunity to be a little lazy. Before the meat ran out Rance went out to see if his traps had anything for him. He knew it was unlikely. The forest animals would have found his catches and taken them but he'd need to reset the traps anyway. He took his rifle and left Maria with the pistol.

The snow was beginning to melt as the temperature rose to just above freezing. His legs were saturated and his feet were cold. The snow was wet and becoming slushy. His first trap had been triggered but the catch was gone. He reset it and went to his next one. A squirrel was in this one so he put it in his bag, reset and moved on. In all he got two squirrels. All 12 of his traps had been triggered but only two usable animals were in them. One trap had a half-eaten rabbit in it which he discarded well away from the trap.